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When exactly did the flat screen television become a signifier in the media for frivolous, conspicuous consumption and wastefulness?

For as long as I can remember now, when columnists or talkback nazis want to make a point about unnecessary spending, especially by poor people and those on welfare, there is reference made to fact that these groups are buying big, flat-screen TVs.

What consumer items did we reference in the past when bashing the poor? Was it just cigarettes and alcohol?

Perhaps poor people should only be allowed access to certain types of shops…. these shops would only sell items approved by middle class people for working class consumption.
In fact it should just be the one enormous shop under one roof…. and have a snappy title like “Enormous shed” and a jingle that “enormous shed… where everyone gets a bargain”…. or something.